Date: 2017-03-30
Type of information: Grant
Company: Cidara Therapeutics (USA - CA)
Investors: CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Accelerator) (USA)
Amount: $6.9 million
Funding type: grant
Planned used: The grant will be used to advance the development of Cidara's first cloudbreak™ antibiotic immunotherapy , CD201, for the treatment of life-threatening multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterial infections. This first-in-class, bispecific antibiotic immunotherapy works by binding to a target present on a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria, including MCR-1-positive strains, while simultaneously recruiting immune components to an infection site to coordinate localized host-mediated infection clearance. CD201 has demonstrated potent antibacterial activity in vitro against a number of clinically significant Gram-negative bacteria, including Klebsiella, Acenitobacter, Pseudomonas and Enterobacter spp. and resistant pathogens (including bacteria resistant to carbapenems and colistin), as well as pathogens harboring the mcr-1 plasmid. CD201 also has demonstrated preliminary efficacy and safety in a number of animal models of infection.
Others: • On March 30, 2017, Cidara Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infectives including immunotherapies, announced that the company has received a grant for up to $6.9 million from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Accelerator) to advance the development of its antibiotic immunotherapy, CD201, for the treatment of life-threatening multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacterial infections. Following a competitive review process, CARB-X selected Cidara’s CD201 product candidate for its first phase of funding awarded to companies with pre-clinical development projects in the area of antibiotic-resistant infections, a serious global health threat. Under the grant, CARB-X will provide up to $3.9 million in base funding and up to $3.0 million in additional funding through Phase 1, linked to the successful progression of the project through milestones established by CARB-X. To be considered, the clinical project must target one of the deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria on the Serious or Urgent Threat List prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or appear on the Priority Pathogens list published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The first projects selected for the Powered by CARB-X portfolio focus on Gram-negative bacteria, which are responsible for half of all healthcare associated infections many of which are resistant to multiple drugs. CARB-X is the world’s largest public-private partnership focused on antibacterials, created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). CARB-X is funded by BARDA and the London-based Wellcome Trust.
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
